Nightmare
by ElegantButler
Summary: Bryce's first dream is not at all what any teenager would like.
1. Chapter 1

-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-

**-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-**

**Nightmare**

(Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story are the property of David Hansen, Paul Owen, and Wes Craven. Enjoy!)

**-Chapter 01-**

Network 23 was mostly dark, save for one room with no windows. The room was, oddly enough, on the thirteenth floor. That floor was occupied by the Research and Development department, which was headed by Bryce Lynch. Bryce was, in fact, pretty much was the only staff member in the entire department. That was probably due to the fact that most of the adult staff had left, feeling uncomfortable with having a teenager as their boss.

Bryce was up late, as usual, working on a new project for the Network, or so he claimed. Anyone who had looked in on him would have sworn he was actually playing. He was the only Head of Research and Development to use a Slinky as a research prop. He yawned and tried to convince himself that he wasn't tired. Not a bit. He started to fall forward toward his computer, but caught himself and went back to work on the project he'd been at for the past several hours despite the fact that it was about two in the morning.

He was in the middle of typing when his eyes drifted closed. He opened them again and was slightly alarmed to see that his studio door was open. He moved to close it, then noticed that the hallway had somehow been replaced by a run-down room. He stepped carefully past the threshold and felt a wave of dizziness. Looking back, he saw that his studio was gone. In its place was a stairwell leading into a basement that smelled of mildew and decay. Overcome with curiosity, he made his way down the stairs, wondering just what was going on.

He heard breathing behind him and turned to see who it was.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The man tipped his hat and sneered. "You're not like the other teenagers I've killed," he scoffed. "It took me a lot more effort to bring you here."

"Where are we?" Bryce inquired.

"Your worst nightmare," the badly burned man told him, waving what looked like a raking glove at Bryce.

"Nightmare?" Bryce blinked. "But, I don't dream."

"First time, huh?" the older man asked, suddenly at Bryce's shoulder, whispering in the young genius's ear. "Don't worry. I'll be gentle."

"Why don't I believe you?" Bryce asked. "Now. Your name."

"Freddy," the man finally introduced himself. He ran a single claw across Bryce's abdomen, drawing blood.

Bryce gave a cry and woke. He looked down at his abdomen, instinctively, and was alarmed to see a long gash in the same place he'd been slashed in his nightmare.

He called the Network physician. "Dr. Duncan," he said, sounding more frightened than he intended. "I need stitches. I can't explain how I got hurt. But..."

"That looks pretty bad," Dr. Duncan told him. "It looks like you might need surgery as well as stitches. I'm calling the hospital. Try not to move too much. We don't want you to aggravate your injury."

Bryce nodded, trying to remain calm, despite the fact that he was bleeding badly. He wanted to lean back, but knew that doing so would cause the wound to open up more than it already was.

With tears of pain in his eyes, he sat there and waited for the ambulance to arrive.

The paramedics rushed into the room and carefully got Bryce onto the stretcher.

"Another slasher victim," the man in charge radioed the ambulance as they wheeled the stretcher onto the elevator.

"That's the fifth one this week," the ambulance driver replied, "I hope this one survives."


	2. Chapter 2

-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-

**-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-**

**Nightmare**

**-Chapter 02-**

Cheviot was awakened by his vu-phone. "Cheviot," he muttered, groggily. Then he saw who was on the phone. "Dr. Duncan. What's wrong?"

"It's Bryce Lynch, sir," Dr. Duncan replied. "He was attacked. I called an ambulance. He's on his way to the hospital for surgery right now."

"Does security have any idea who attacked him?" Cheviot asked.

"None," Dr. Duncan replied. "There's no record of anyone breaking into his studio. And I doubt it was self-inflicted."

"Thank you," Cheviot replied. He disconnected the call and phoned Murray.

"Murray," he said. "Get Edison and Theora. I need you to find out who attacked Bryce."

"Yes, Mr. Cheviot," Murray replied, feeling a sudden pang of worry. Bryce was the youngest member of his team. He was definitely a genius. But there was a naiveté about him that was inexplicable. He reached for his vu-phone and punched in Edison's number.

Edison Carter didn't like being woken up in the middle of a Saturday night. "Damn it, Murray," he grumbled. "It's the middle of the night."

"Bryce was just taken to the hospital," Murray told him.

Edison was suddenly out of bed and getting dressed.

"What happened to Bryce?" he asked as he rushed into the Control Room at Network 23 several minutes later.

"According to Dr. Duncan, he was attacked by an unknown assailant," Cheviot replied. "There's no sign of an attacker. But Bryce was badly slashed across his midsection."

"I hope he'll be okay," Murray said.

"What's his current condition?" Edison asked.

"Bryce was taken into immediate surgery," Cheviot replied. "They said they would call us as soon as it was over. Or..." he broke off, not even wanting to think about the other outcome. "God, please let him live."

"Theora," Edison suggested. "Look up incidents of unexplained slasher attacks. See if there's a pattern of some kind."

"Okay," Theora said, as she turned to her control computer and began to search.

"I'm going to the hospital," Cheviot told them.

"I'm coming with you," Edison said, hoisting his vidicam over his shoulder. "Theora, feed any information you find to me at the hospital."

Theora nodded and continued to look up the information Edison had asked for while Edison followed Cheviot to his car.


	3. Chapter 3

-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-

**-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-**

**Nightmare**

**-Chapter 03-**

Theora ran a search for slasher attacks in and around the city. She found a series of attacks that had happened in the Fringes. They had been attributed to Rakers, but there was no evidence to lead the Metrocops to an actual killer. She called Big Time television to ask Reg about the attacks in the Fringes.

If anyone would know about what was going on there, it was Blank Reg. He was on good terms with most of the Blanks.

"What can I do for you?" Reg asked, cheerfully.

"Reg, what can you tell me about the teenagers who were recently slashed in the Fringes?"

"Well," Reg told her, solemnly, "none of them survived."

Theora's face fell. That did not bode well for Bryce. "Does anyone have any idea who it might be?"

Reg shook his head. "There's been no evidence, and no one has survived to describe the killer. What's up?"

"Bryce was attacked," Theora told him.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Reg told her. "He was a pretty nice kid."

"He's not dead yet, Reg," Theora told the Blank.

"I hope he survives," Reg told her. "But, I'll be honest with you. Whatever is killing the teenagers in this city is brutal, ruthless, and very efficient."

"Thank you, Reg," Theora told him.

"I wish I could give you better news," Reg apologized.

"Ben Cheviot," a doctor said as he emerged from the operating room.

"Yes," Cheviot replied. "Is he...?"

"We had a few close calls," the doctor told him, "but he's in recovery. He's still asleep, but we expect him up in a few hours."

"I'd like to sit with him, if that's possible," Edison said. "He might be able to identify his attacker."

"Very well," the doctor sighed. Edison's reputation was such that he knew that there would be no way to refuse such a request for long. Especially if the boy was a friend of his.

Edison walked into the room that Bryce had been put into and sat in a chair near the head of the bed. He watched the teenager sleep; his face a mask of worry as he waited for Bryce to awaken.

He noticed the control light on his vidicam was flashing and spoke into the lens. "What is it, Theora?"

"We have a problem, Edison," Theora replied. "There was a series of similar attacks in the Fringes. Brutal slashings with no evidence ever found."

"What about witnesses?" Edison asked.

"All of the victims died, Edison," Theora told him. "How's Bryce?"

"He survived surgery," Edison told her. "But he's not out of the woods, yet."

"I hope he makes it, Edison," Theora said, concernedly.

"So do I, Theora," Edison replied.


	4. Chapter 4

-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-

**-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-**

**Nightmare**

**-Chapter 04-**

Bryce's well-tuned mind tried frantically to concentrate on the Fibonacci sequence as he lay unconscious on the hospital bed. The problem was that every time he got past 89, his mind went blank and he had to start again. It wasn't like him. He could usually work it out well past that. But for some reason, tonight he couldn't. He was getting a little frightened. A feeling that grew as he noticed the rickety old house that suddenly stood before him.

"One- two- Freddy's coming for you," a voice sang suddenly. He turned to find a group of Fringer children playing jump rope on the sidewalk out in front of the house. "Three- four- better lock your door…"

He ignored it for several minutes until a bolt of lightning startled him and he rushed inside to get out of the sudden downpour. He shivered as he looked around the room and recognized it as the same place he'd been in when he'd been slashed. Not wishing to have anything more to do with such a place, he opened the front door and stepped through. There was nothing there under his foot as he took a step and he lost his balance, tumbling down the same rickety staircase he had walked down in his previous nightmare.

He looked around, trying to see if he could spot Freddy. He saw a door and decided to see where it went to. He was surprised to find himself standing on a metal catwalk overlooking a series of boiler machines. He heard the screeching of metal on metal. It was very irritating and a bit frightening as well. He ran down the steps and didn't stop until he was suddenly blocked by an inexplicable steel gate. Turning, he found another gate just behind him. The room was stiflingly hot. He had trouble breathing. His heart raced as he waited in terror for the man from his first nightmare to return.

He soon found himself face to face with the horribly burned and scarred face of the man who had slashed his abdomen.

"Hot in here, isn't it?" Freddy asked, in a casual tone.

The brick wall behind Bryce exploded around them, revealing a wide open boiler. The flames rose up as Freddy suddenly grabbed Bryce.

"Come on, kid, wake up," a doctor was shaking. He injected Bryce with a drug to awaken him. He hadn't liked how high Bryce's temperature had suddenly gone. A high fever was never a good sign with surgery.

Freddy started to lift Bryce, clearly intending to throw him into the boiler, when Bryce suddenly faded from his grasp.

Bryce's eyes flew open and he was comforted to see Edison Carter sitting there.

"Bryce?" Edison asked. "How do you feel?"

"That's twice now," Bryce muttered to himself. "What the hell is this guy's obsession with me anyhow?"

"Who?" Edison asked. "The man who slashed you?"

"Freddy," Bryce nodded. "I didn't catch his last name."

"Can you describe him?" asked a Metrocop who had been informed by the doctor that Bryce had awakened.

"He was badly burned," Bryce told the cop. "He wore a dirty brown hat and had razors on his right hand. Like a Raking glove."

The Metrocop took down the information while Edison relayed his conversation with Bryce to Theora.

Theora ran a search for the name Freddy and a description of his weapon on her computer. "Edison, there was a series of killings back in the 1980s on Elm Street in Springwood, Ohio."

"The United States," Edison muttered.

"Thing is," Theora pointed out, "that none of the deaths could be explained. But they were all marked by the victims claims of chronic nightmares, and all of the victims died in their sleep."


	5. Chapter 5

-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-

**-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-**

**Nightmare**

**-Chapter 05-**

Max watched Bryce from the vantage point of the hospital room's wall-mounted television set.

The young genius lie there, willing himself to stay awake. Twice now his mind had been invaded by the man who'd called himself Freddy. And he wasn't too keen on having another Freddy dream.

"You should get- get- get some sleep. Sleep." Max suggested.

"I can't," Bryce shook his head, sitting up. "I know it seems illogical. But I know that if I fall asleep, I'll die."

"You can't stay awake for the rest of your life," Max pointed out.

"I know," Bryce sighed, his voice full of fear and worry. "I just wish I could get this Freddy guy out of my head."

"There were a lot of teenagers who felt the same way," Theora told him as she walked into the room with a pile of papers. She sat down at the edge of the bed and handed Bryce a cup of coffee. "I want you to stay awake tonight, Bryce."

"You found something?" Bryce asked.

"Freddy Krueger was a child killer who went free because of a technicality in the law," Theora told him. "He was tracked down by a mob of angry townsfolk and burned alive."

"How did he survive?" Bryce asked.

"He didn't," Theora replied.

"I'm being stalked by some dead killer's ghost?" Bryce asked. He would have been skeptical if he hadn't met Freddy himself.

"You're not alone," Theora told him. "After Freddy died, he began to come back in people's dreams. With very few exceptions, his victims were teenagers. The early victims were the offspring of the people who had burned him alive. All of them died in their sleep under mysterious circumstances."

"Killed in their nightmares," Bryce realized.

"So it seems," Theora nodded.

"What else is known about Freddy Krueger?" Bryce asked.

"That's as far as I got," Theora told Bryce. "I rushed here as soon as I realized the danger you were in."

"D-d-danger? Danger?" Max asked.

Theora nodded. "And unfortunately we don't have a way to protect Bryce yet. All we can do at this point is to try to keep him awake, or at least wake him up when he appears to be having a nightmare. But we can't keep that up forever."

"So, Bryce is going to die?" Max asked, sounding fearful.

"Not if I can help it," Edison said from the doorway.


	6. Chapter 6

-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-

**-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-**

**Nightmare**

**-Chapter 06-**

Jenny got out of bed and walked half way to her computer when she almost tripped over the red tricycle that had been left in the middle of her studio.

Wondering what it was doing there, she pushed it aside and looked up.

When she looked up, she found herself face-to-face with a horribly burned man who was smiling at her with pure evil written all over his face.

"Hello, Jenny," the man said, as he grabbed her by the throat.

Jenny kicked the man, expecting him to drop her considering where her foot had landed. But he just leered at her.

"I like it rough," he said, as he threw her back toward the bed.

Jenny fell just a foot short and got to her feet. It was then that she noticed the glove he was wearing. She ran for the vu-phone, but before she could reach it, the hideous man grabbed her from behind and raked his claws across her middle. She gave a scream of pain and horror, then fell back against Freddy as he gave a triumphant laugh.

Edison was in the hospital cafeteria when his vidicam light flashed. He and Theora had been taking turns staying up with Bryce and it was his turn to get a cup of coffee. Turning the lens toward himself he spoke. "What is it, Control?"

"Edison," Murray told him, "Grossberg just called."

"Grossberg?" Edison asked. "What did he want?"

"Network 66's Head of Research and Development died last night." Murray told him. "They found her in her studio with injuries similar to Bryce's. Only she had four gashes instead of one. She died too quickly to get help from their doctor."

"And they think it was Freddy who did it," Edison asked.

"They don't know about Freddy," Murray replied. "Grossberg called because apparently the girl in question was Bryce's classmate."

Edison took a long deep breath, then spoke. "I see." He said. He looked up at the clock, then turned back to the vidicam. "I have to go. It's my turn to sit with Bryce." He switched the vidicam back to standby, and hoisted it over his shoulder as he finished his coffee and got to his feet. Then, he turned to the door and headed to Bryce's room.

Theora looked up from losing her third game of chess with Bryce.

"Four moves," she said, in a mixture of exasperation and amazement. "He checkmated me in four moves. I didn't think it was possible, but…" Theora's voice fell silent as she saw the look on Edison's face. "What's wrong?"

"I need to talk to Bryce," Edison replied, solemnly.

"I have to get some coffee anyway," Theora said, diplomatically, as she stood up and left the room.

"What's up, Edison?" Bryce asked, curiously.

"Grossberg called the network earlier," Edison told Bryce.

Bryce instantly knew where this conversation was going. "Jenny?" he asked, weakly. The girl had been his best friend at ACS, or at least as close to a best friend as anyone had managed to get with the naïve young genius.

"I'm sorry," Edison told him, seeing the flicker of emotion that Bryce quickly masked. "Girlfriend?"

Bryce shook his head.

"He's only had eyes for one p- p- p- person," Max cut in from the TV. "And they're too vain to notice. Notice."

"Oh?" Edison asked as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Care to tell me who's been breaking your heart, Bryce?" He was curious to know who had finally broken past the wall of ice that surrounded the boy's heart.

"Nobody," Bryce replied. "In case you haven't noticed, I've been too busy lately trying to stay alive to worry about anything else."

"So, you don't have a girlfriend, then," Edison asked.

Bryce gave him a look that basically had the words "Give me a break, Edison" written all over it.

"Okay, okay," Edison said, putting his hands up in defeat. "No questions. I'll just ask Max later."

"Some things," Max said from his screen, "are best left to those who are most affected."

"Meaning that if Bryce doesn't want to tell me, then you won't either," Edison guessed.

"Not this time." Max replied. "But if you've been p- p- paying any attention to Bryce then you can guess who's been breaking his heart lately."

Edison thought about it for a bit. He remembered all the times he, Murray, and Theora had spoken with Bryce. Something about it had seemed odd to him, even then. But he hadn't worked out what it was. Now, thinking back on it, he realized what it was. Every time Bryce had addressed Theora or Murray, even now, he called them by their last name. But he had always called him Edison, save for that one time when they had first met. His eyes went a little wider than normal. He looked at Bryce and saw that the injured teenager was trying not to look directly at him.

"Bryce?" He asked, in amusement. "You have a crush on me, don't you?"

"If that's what you want to call it," Bryce shrugged, sounding as though he'd been terribly affronted. "It feels like more than that, though."

"You're cute, kid," Edison smiled, ruffling Bryce's hair. "But I'm too old for you. I hate to break your heart, but that's the way life goes sometimes."


	7. Chapter 7

-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-

**-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-**

**Nightmare**

**-Chapter 07-**

Bryce watched Edison pace his studio the next day, looking like a caged tiger. Apparently the revelation from the previous evening had unnerved the reporter just a little bit.

"Don't worry," Bryce told him, sounding just a bit snippy, "I thought about what you said last night, and I can assure you that I'm over you."

"I'm sorry that I broke your heart, Bryce," Edison apologized, though he hadn't actually done anything to encourage the young genius's feelings toward him.

"I've been giving the Freddy problem a bit of thought as well," Bryce said, changing the subject. "I have an idea. It's dangerous, but since I'm in danger of dying anyhow…"

"Well, let's hear it, then," Edison suggested.

"We trap Freddy." Bryce said, simply.

"That's it?" Edison asked in shock. He'd expected more from someone as smart as Bryce.

"For all practical purposes," Bryce explained, "Freddy is a virus. I think we can isolate him in an unlinked portable computer unit."

"How do we get him in there?" Edison asked.

"Through a telecine machine," Bryce decided.

"No," Edison said, realizing where this idea was going. "I lost Paddy to that machine! I won't lose you to it, too!"

"If we don't do anything I'm going to be killed anyway," Bryce pointed out. "We don't have any other options. The telecine machine is the only way to stop Freddy."

"So, how do we use it to trap Freddy?" Edison asked, feeling very bad about the whole thing.

"I'll have to re-link the telecine machine so that it runs into the portable unit rather than onto the Mind's Eye vu-screens." Bryce figured. "That shouldn't be too difficult. The problem is going to be making sure that Freddy decides to make an appearance."

"I have a very bad feeling about this, Bryce," Edison told him an hour later, as he watched Bryce rewire the telecine machine at Mind's Eye. He remembered seeing Paddy on Breughal and Mahler's body-slab and the girl who had died before his eyes in the throes of a violent nightmare. Now people were dying from their dreams without benefit of a telecine machine. Bryce had already come close twice now. So, Edison didn't feel that he should endanger himself further by hooking himself up to a machine whose use had been proven fatal.

"So do I," Bryce admitted. "But I can't stay awake forever. Sooner or later I will have to face him. I'd rather do it on my terms than on his."

"Well, be careful," Edison told him.

"Edison, this is insane," Theora said over the link. "You can't let him do it. You know what happened to Paddy. We don't want to lose Bryce. We need him."

"We'll lose him anyway if Freddy gets him," Edison reminded her. "Bryce is right. He can't stay awake forever, and if he doesn't do something, Freddy will kill him anyhow. I think Bryce just doesn't want to go down without a fight."

"I won- won- wonder where he got that from. From." Max quipped.

"I'm ready, Edison," Bryce said as he settled into one of the chairs and slipped on the telecine goggles.

"Good luck, kid," Edison said, solemnly. He wished that Bryce had connected the machine so that he could still see what was happening on the vu-screens. Not knowing what was happening in the young genius's dream was the most heart-wrenching thing he'd ever endured.


	8. Chapter 8

-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-

**-Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into The Future-**

**Nightmare**

**-Chapter 08-**

Bryce waited for his adversary to appear. He felt a combination of fear and impatience as he stood there in the plain white field. He wondered for a moment if Freddy had sensed his plan. But as he stood there, he heard the same song he'd heard before.

"One- Two- Freddy's coming for you. Three- Four- better lock your door…"

Bryce turned and saw Freddy standing there, looking as casual as ever.

"Rather bland, isn't it?" Freddy said, waving his gloved hand to indicate the nothingness that surrounded them. "Shall I paint it blood red?"

Bryce smiled. "I'd rather you didn't," he said. "But if you want, I can offer you a more colorful alternative."

Freddy raised an eyebrow as the whiteness was replaced by an inexplicable array of neon-like interlinking patterns.

"Hmph," he scoffed, as Bryce backed away, slowly. He advanced toward the young genius with a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

Bryce continued to back away, fear still apparent in his eyes, as Freddy wiggled his glove, tauntingly. Then, he circled back.

Freddy circled with Bryce, the two combatants sizing each other up. Then Bryce smiled

as he pulled a remote from his pocket and clicked it. A glass cage appeared around Freddy, trapping him within it.

Freddy waved a hand, intending to make the wall before him disappear. This was his domain, after all. It was never a problem with him to make doors and walls vanish or at the very least noncorporeal.

This wall, however, did not budge. Freddy banged on it, and tried to cut through it with his claws. It did him no good.

Bryce smiled at Freddy, a look of triumph in his eyes.

"Welcome to cyberspace," he told the man who had twice tried to kill him. "Enjoy your stay."

He backed away, until he seemed to cross an imaginary line, which Freddy had been too busy to notice the first time. Then he vanished from sight, leaving Freddy alone in his transparent prison.

Edison watched in worry as Bryce sat there, wondering if the young genius would ever wake up.

Then Bryce reached up and removed the goggles. He moved quickly, disconnecting the portable unit from the telecine machine before Freddy could figure a way out of the prison.

"So, what do we do with this thing?" Edison asked, indicating the computer that Freddy was now trapped inside of.

"We put it somewhere safe," Bryce replied as he stood up and turned to face Edison.

Edison thought about it, then had an idea. "We'll bury it," he decided. "Someplace where no one will ever find it."

"Yeah," Bryce agreed.

They got the portable unit out to Edison's car. Edison started the car and drove it to a place just beyond the Fringes, stopping along the way to buy a pair of shovels.

When he got there, he turned to Bryce to ask him to help him dig a hole to put the computer into and smiled ruefully as he saw that Bryce was fast asleep.

"Sleep well, kid," he said as he got out of the car and began to dig.


End file.
